SOUND ON SCREEN Music Film Festival

The 2023 SOUND ON SCREEN Music Film Festival will stream across South Africa 31 March - 9 April, right here at Quicket (see the list of 53 movies below)

SOUND ON SCREEN is an exciting film festival (est. 2010), dedicated to MUSIC, with diverse feature films and short films from around the world, including everything from documentaries and biopics to musicals, concert films, narrative fiction with a music theme and much more.

Official web site: www.flamedrop.com/sos

Sound On Screen streaming tickets will go live the weekend of 24 March at R25 each (including a heavily discounted affordable full festival pass of only R175)

See the full list further down and the selection video here:

In this packed 2023 edition, movie subjects look at specific genres, musicians, instruments, radio stations, music's inner-working and our connection to it, venues and music culture movements, also including music-linked fiction, biopics, animation, experimental audio-visual trips, performances, musicals, dance, music videos and more. The over 50 movie selections are not only entertaining but also informative, socially aware, humorous, historically relevant.Genres touched on include: Pop, Rock, Jazz, World Music, Metal, Punk, Classical, Folk, Electronic, Afro House, Improvisation, Reggae, Cajun, Avant-Garde, soundscapes, DJ-ing, singer-songwriters, geographically specific sounds from around the world including Africa, Brazil, Norway, and more, even a musical on the Ukraine revolution.

Official website: www.flamedrop.com/sos

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SoundOnScreenFilmFest

YouTube: www.youtube.com/FlamedropProductions

Instagram: www.instagram.com/terminatryx

Twitter: www.twitter.com/terminatryx

THE MOVIES :

DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON FRIDAY NIGHT (USA)

From Executive Producer Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine / Audioslave) - meet former gravedigger and doorman Ike Reilly. At 40 years old he landed a major label recording contract and in true rock & roll fashion he bought his family a dream home. He took his band out on the road where they became what The New York Times called “one of the best live bands in America.” Despite 9 albums, a cult following and immense critical acclaim Reilly has failed to achieve commercial success. Academy Award winning director James Marsh says, “Ike’s stuff sounds like it should be enormously successful and it just isn’t and I have no idea why.” Exploring Ike’s career, the film culls over 40 years of footage masterfully weaving in songs that reveal a complicated and formidable artist with an incredibly charismatic family. Struggling with booze and in the face of foreclosure, Ike finds redemption in music, art & family as his 3 sons begin performing with his band.

StratocastAir (Switzerland)

This will be the opener for DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON FRIDAY NIGHT.

StratocastAir is the story of a man, who dares to rock his passion... and thereby unleashes something unexpected - buying an air guitar! 

MUSIC POWER: The Story of Capital Radio 604 (USA / South Africa)

During the South African Nationalist Apartheid regime where the government controlled all media, censored news, and banned music, a "pirate" radio station was created to inform the public by playing great music to attract listeners, and then reporting truthful and neutral news. This started a movement against the Nationalist government. 

ABOVE AND BEYOND - The Global Rise of Afro House (Germany)

They only need three things to make a club hit: talent, headphones and a laptop. All across Africa, accomplished DJs are taking the continent by storm and inspiring international artists to venture into the world of Afro House. DJ collective and music label RISE invites the world’s finest Afro House DJs to the heart of Berlin’s electronic dance music scene - allowing House music to go back to its Black roots.  From South Africa to Germany, from Angola to Portugal, from Kenya to the USA and beyond: the documentary “Above and Beyond” showcases key players of the Afro House music scene and looks at the many challenges left ahead on its way to the world stage.  Featuring: Osunlade, Louie and Anané Vega, Shimza, Da Capo, Thandi Draai, DESIREE (RSA), Hyenah, JAMIIE, Amémé, Walter Griot, Midi Minds Kenya, DJ Paulo Alves, Wilson Kentura and Henrik Schwarz

GOT TO BE FREE (Ukraine)

This is a true, though not documentary, musical story about modern Ukrainians during the events of the Revolution of Dignity that took place in Kyiv in 2014. The musical is based on the story of rock musician Ivan and activist Malanka. According to the script, they met during the Maidan and fell in love with each other. Together, they will spend the winter of 2013 with snowballs and shared food, constructing the barricades and opposing aggressive “titushki”. Throughout the entire musical, the couple fights for their own happiness and for dignity of their country. 

SHASH INSDIE (Austria)

SHASH INSIDE's story spans from an artist's life with all its ups and downs, its beginning to the memory of it. Based on the music of the protagonists Abby Lee Tee and GC, episodes were developed and then the artists used them as inspiration for remixing the original tracks. This not only resulted in a documentation of the artists' work, but also new music and a soundtrack. This soundtrack also works without visualization like a 60-minute DJ mix (director Dieter Strauch has been a DJ since 1992, the protagonists since the late 1990s). In the episodes, topics such as dealing with politics, the continuous work in an artist's precarious circumstances, the influence and exchange with other artists, a search for clues and the attempt at commercial success are processed in a circular dramaturgy. The film borrows from European cinema as well as from Hollywood cinema, packing the documentation into an entertaining genre mix of adventure film, drama and thriller. Director D. Strauch forms this mix into a pure music film with sound design by SHASH, which proves how much the audience is guided by music and sound - only two sentences are spoken.

THE ART OF TEACHING MUSIC

will include CHAMELEONS and UNSEEN :

CHAMELEONS (Austria)

You have to empathize with every given situation and adapt to it: creative, communicative and flexible - like a chameleon.  The documentary focuses on the diverse work of instrumental and singing teachers in the field of tension between education and being an artist, between elementary music teaching and musical excellence. How and where do the instrumental and vocal teachers actually work? What are the challenges you face? In addition, the film illuminates the many possible approaches to making music, offers a look behind the scenes of musical excellence, with a contribution to diversity, inclusion and identity in instrumental and vocal pedagogy.  “Chameleons”: a film about the power of music, about the value of educational work, and at the same time a plea for freedom in artistic expression that encourages you to explore your own musicality.

UNSEEN (Russian Federation)

A visually impaired violinist, a frustrated pianist, an aspiring vocalist, and a highly patriotic accordionist are studying at Novosibirsk State Conservatory. This music documentary reveals all their dreams and fears.

LE MALI 70 (Germany / Mali)

Popular music has its roots in West Africa, and especially in Mali. In Berlin, a bigband discovers old vinyls from the Malian Bigband era, music which embodied the hope for Malian independence before a coup brought an end to the big band scene. Inspired by these songs, the Berliners travel to Mali to find the heroes of their vinyl-collection. There they research the origins of the songs, marvel at old archive footage and play jam-sessions with forgotten Malian stars, leading often to heated arguments over the correct beats, and record an album in Salif Keita's studio in Bamako.

TIMBILA (Mozambique)

This will be the opener for LE MALI 70

Nowadays there are young individual Timbila players who integrate it into popular music styles, creating a fusion between traditional and contemporary instruments. On the one hand, this arouses curiosity about the origin and history of the instrument, on the other, it raises the question of where the original practice of timbila went and whether traditional groups still exist today. Deep in the district of Zavala there are still masters who pass the art of making, playing and dancing Timbila from generation to generation, who practice this art according to rules that must be strictly followed, to continue with their tradition. Today's orchestras are challenged by a lack of resources, they hardly earn any money, which makes young people move to cities in search of work, but still, some have the strong will and the necessary courage to continue in the orchestras of Timbila and preserve this culture for the future.

500 DAYS OF SILENCE (USA)

"You never realize how music affects you... until you're told to sit still." Tempe, Arizona based rock trio The Black Moods breaks through Billboard Top 20 just as the pandemic shutters the music industry. After years of work on the road to 'make it' the musicians return home to an uncertain future as all live entertainment is canceled. Established artists interviewed in this documentary include plus international artists such as Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony of Van Halen, Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Steel Panther, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon, Rick Springfield, Jimmy Eat World, Gin Blossoms and The Refreshments and rock radio show host Eddie Trunk.This story focuses on the bond and struggles of artists working together as a band to continue to pursue their passion and work as they rely on each other to get through difficult times. With live music venues shuttered, how do artists and entertainers keep going when their livelihood has been suddenly and indefinitely put on hold. 500 Days of Silence is a look at the journey taken by musicians playing small clubs to large arenas during this unprecedented time in history in a story of perseverance, personal creativity and inspiration. Find out how the bond of this "band of brothers" faces the loss of their livelihood to keep their dreams alive together. Filmed on location over two years during the pandemic.

THE DOGMATICS : A Dogumentary (USA)

The Dogmatics might very well be the most emblematic Boston band of this half-century, that too-few people know about. This outlier status has more to do with the untimely death of their bandmate than with their catalog of kick-ass garage rock.  The Dogmatics were established in 1981. They gained notoriety with a loyal following in the Boston music scene, and beyond. The quartet was no different than any other talentless, self-deprecating, beer-swilling, girl-chasing lunkheads with guitars. It wasn’t about money. Catching a girl’s eye, a free round of drinks, or simply completing a song in unison were their rewards.  Fans and fellow bands in Massachusetts look fondly on the decades of positive ripple effects their presence (still to this day) has on the local music scene.  This documentary is a four year effort by family and friends, crafted as a tribute to the Dogmatics’ late co-founder and bassist Paul O’Halloran. See how the band came into being in the early 1980s, rising out of a pocket of musical talent in the South Shore area near Boston.  At its core, this is a story of brothers – by both blood and bond. Not only that, but a rock and roll quartet that included identical twins with a common passion for music and its rich history.

STONED TO THE BONE (USA)

This will be the opener for THE DOGMATICS : A Dogumentary

Stoned to the Bone is a short that focuses on a 1985 weekend field party bacchanal that took place in Montgomery County, Maryland. A cast of colorful characters are recorded using a home video camera and a CBS microphone swiped from the Reagan Inauguration earlier that year. Music included is the doom metal icons Pentagram who are interviewed as they setup for the performance. Rudy Childs created this short to look back in time to wilder days. 

THE VENTURES: Stars on Guitars (USA)

This will be free to view

A documentary film on the #1 instrumental rock group in the world, The Ventures. The story of their rise to fame in the 1960s right up to now, as they celebrate their 60th anniversary of playing the best guitar-rock of all time (including classics like Hawaii Five-0)

CLASSICS IN BRAZILIAN CHORO - The Movie (Brazil)

The documentary film "Classics in Brazilian Choro - The Movie" portrays the creation of the musical project Concertando o Choro, whose undertaking consisted of composing, performing, and recording unprecedented musical arrangements that incorporated the style of the Brazilian popular genre choro into well-known works of classical music. The film captures essential steppingstones of this project from 2014 to 2017, from the initial idea to the composition of the arrangements to rehearsals to public concerts to recording sessions. In addition to getting a chance to experience the creative process of such choro legends as seven-string guitarist Luizinho Sete Cordas and other world-class musicians who took part in the project, the viewer also gets to witness the process through which musical elements of such typical Brazilian dances as maxixe, baião, and frevo (among others) “spice up” the aesthetic of famous works of classical music, including Bach, Ravel and Bizet, to name a few. 

MusArt (USA)

This will be the opener for CLASSICS IN BRAZILIAN CHORO

Musician and painter, Randall Vemer, has once again expanded his talent pool; this time into filmmaking.  In a nearly 12-minute biographical documentary, Vemer reveals what happened when his ability to play his beloved viola was taken away.  The film is filled with striking portraits of the people and instruments by which he's been surrounded for much of his life. And always the educator, the hauntingly lovely music is scored and timed, not only to enhance the viewer's enjoyment of Vemer's classical style images but also to point out which instrument is highlighted within the rich and ethereal paintings.  Randall Vemer's musical bio-doc is a moving tribute to the creativity, discipline, and heart of this incredibly talented man.

PHOENIX: David’s Dream (Brazil)

After helping to fight the fire that destroyed the National Museum in Brazil, a firefighter decides to look for wreckage to transform them into art. The musical instruments are made and crafted from the salvaged wood with the help of artists such as Gilberto Gil, Paulinho da Viola and Hamilton de Holanda.

AMAZON RASTA (Brazil)

Shot in the Amazon Rainforest, São Paulo, Ethiopia, South Africa and Chile, 'Amazon Rasta' is a 'Road Movie' documentary. The film follows the musical and spiritual journeys of Carlos Pereira Marques, known as “Ras Kadhu”, musician, composer and leader of the band JAH I RAS. In his songs he affirms the knowledge he absorbed in the Amazon Rainforest with the Santo Daime journey and in Ethiopia with Rastafarian guidance. RasKadhu's travels through these worlds bring us surprising and exciting connections, portraying this character that could only emerge in the 21st Century.